Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle
Joint Authors
Vigil, Jacob M.
DiDomenico, Jared
Strenth, Chance
Coulombe, Patrick
Kruger, Eric
Mueller, Andrea A.
Guevara Beltran, Diego
Adams, Ian
Source
International Journal of Endocrinology
Issue
Vol. 2015, Issue 2015 (31 Dec. 2015), pp.1-8, 8 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2015-03-29
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
8
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Background.
Separate lines of research have shown that menstrual cycling and contextual factors such as the gender of research personnel influence experimental pain reporting.
Objectives.
This study examines how brief, procedural interactions with female and male experimenters can affect experimentally reported pain (cold pressor task, CPT) across the menstrual cycle.
Methods.
Based on the menstrual calendars 94 naturally cycling women and 38 women using hormonal contraceptives ( M age = 19.83, SD = 3.09 ) were assigned to low and high fertility groups.
This assignment was based on estimates of their probability of conception given their current cycle day.
Experimenters (12 males, 7 females) engaged in minimal procedural interactions with participants before the CPT was performed in solitude.
Results.
Naturally cycling women in the high fertility group showed significantly higher pain tolerance (81 sec, d = .79 ) following interactions with a male but not a female experimenter.
Differences were not found for women in the low fertility or contraceptive groups.
Discussion.
The findings illustrate that menstrual functioning moderates the effect that experimenter gender has on pain reporting in women.
Conclusion.
These findings have implications for standardizing pain measurement protocols and understanding how basic biopsychosocial mechanisms (e.g., person-perception systems) can modulate pain experiences.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Vigil, Jacob M.& DiDomenico, Jared& Strenth, Chance& Coulombe, Patrick& Kruger, Eric& Mueller, Andrea A.…[et al.]. 2015. Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle. International Journal of Endocrinology،Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-8.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1065728
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Vigil, Jacob M.…[et al.]. Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle. International Journal of Endocrinology No. 2015 (2015), pp.1-8.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1065728
American Medical Association (AMA)
Vigil, Jacob M.& DiDomenico, Jared& Strenth, Chance& Coulombe, Patrick& Kruger, Eric& Mueller, Andrea A.…[et al.]. Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle. International Journal of Endocrinology. 2015. Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-8.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1065728
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1065728